Your elegant drink may be named after an 18th century horse trade trick. This episode breaks down what makes a true cocktail, a base spirit, a modifying agent, and a special flavoring like bitters, and explores the strange theories behind the word itself.

We trace mixed drinks from the ancient Greek kykeon to Harry Croswell’s 1806 definition, Jerry Thomas’s 1862 bartender’s guide, the first cocktail party in 1917, and how Prohibition bathtub gin rewired American tastes, leading to today’s mixology revival and canned cocktails.

• Why a spirit and mixer is technically a highball, not a cocktail
• The docked-tail horse and gingering theories behind the word cocktail
• Harry Croswell’s 1806 definition and his description of the cocktail as an electioneering potion
• How the Old Fashioned got its name and where the first documented cocktail party took place
• How Prohibition’s bathtub gin led to sweet masking drinks, and the rise of the canned cocktail